‘Black Thursday’ sale draws early bargain hunters

Published: Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.

The turkey could wait for roughly 300 people assembled outside the Hendersonville Kmart early Thursday morning, trying to beat the holiday shopping rush.

Shoppers starting lining up at 2 a.m. outside the Blue Ridge Mall and calmly filed into Kmart when the doors opened at 6 a.m., said Carrie Kimbrell, a customer service associate who showed up to work in the wee hours of Thanksgiving.

“Nobody was rude or shoving,” Kimbrell said. “It was pretty busy, but everybody was nice.”

Door-buster specials drew many of the earliest shoppers, said Kmart Assistant Manager Alaycia Carver. Top draws were a 32-inch high-definition TV for $97, a 42-inch plasma TV for $200, a 9-inch Android tablet for $90 and buy-one-get-one-free board games.

“The tablets were gone within 40 minutes of opening our doors,” said Stephen Greene, 19, who was working the busy electronics department. “We had two rows of people wrapped around the checkout counter.”

Board games were on Bethany Vargas’ shopping list when the 20-year-old Greensboro college student and her boyfriend, Darren Hudson of Fruitland, showed up around 9:30 a.m.

“Honestly, we just walked in and saw they were having a sale,” Hudson said.

The couple bought two group games — Scattergories and Taboo — in anticipation of Vargas’ upcoming New Year’s Eve party. Hudson said Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t going to hit the table at his sister’s house until around 1 p.m., giving them plenty of time to shop.

Jon and Leslie Vermillion weren’t having their Thanksgiving dinner until their family arrived in town Saturday, so the “Black Thursday” sale offered the Hendersonville couple the perfect chance to get a jump on holiday shopping crowds.

“We don’t like to do the Black Friday sales because of the craziness,” Leslie Vermillion said. “We like doing it earlier, so this was perfect.”

The couple grabbed a 6-foot artificial Christmas tree with built-in lights for only $50.

Becky Moffitt of Edneyville showed up at Kmart around 9 a.m. hoping to grab one of the 32-inch TVs or a tablet, but both were long gone. So she took the opportunity to shop for learning games for her youngest boys, laying plans to return when the store re-opened at 8 p.m. with new door-buster specials.

“They’re supposed to have another big sale tonight, after they close at 4 and bring more specials out from the backroom,” Moffitt said. “I’m coming early this time, since everything was gone now.”

<p>The turkey could wait for roughly 300 people assembled outside the Hendersonville Kmart early Thursday morning, trying to beat the holiday shopping rush.</p><p> </p><p>Shoppers starting lining up at 2 a.m. outside the Blue Ridge Mall and calmly filed into Kmart when the doors opened at 6 a.m., said Carrie Kimbrell, a customer service associate who showed up to work in the wee hours of Thanksgiving.</p><p> </p><p>“Nobody was rude or shoving,” Kimbrell said. “It was pretty busy, but everybody was nice.”</p><p> </p><p>Door-buster specials drew many of the earliest shoppers, said Kmart Assistant Manager Alaycia Carver. Top draws were a 32-inch high-definition TV for $97, a 42-inch plasma TV for $200, a 9-inch Android tablet for $90 and buy-one-get-one-free board games.</p><p> </p><p>“The tablets were gone within 40 minutes of opening our doors,” said Stephen Greene, 19, who was working the busy electronics department. “We had two rows of people wrapped around the checkout counter.”</p><p> </p><p>Board games were on Bethany Vargas' shopping list when the 20-year-old Greensboro college student and her boyfriend, Darren Hudson of Fruitland, showed up around 9:30 a.m.</p><p> </p><p>“Honestly, we just walked in and saw they were having a sale,” Hudson said.</p><p> </p><p>The couple bought two group games — Scattergories and Taboo — in anticipation of Vargas' upcoming New Year's Eve party. Hudson said Thanksgiving dinner wasn't going to hit the table at his sister's house until around 1 p.m., giving them plenty of time to shop. </p><p> </p><p>Jon and Leslie Vermillion weren't having their Thanksgiving dinner until their family arrived in town Saturday, so the “Black Thursday” sale offered the Hendersonville couple the perfect chance to get a jump on holiday shopping crowds.</p><p> </p><p>“We don't like to do the Black Friday sales because of the craziness,” Leslie Vermillion said. “We like doing it earlier, so this was perfect.”</p><p> </p><p>The couple grabbed a 6-foot artificial Christmas tree with built-in lights for only $50.</p><p> </p><p>Becky Moffitt of Edneyville showed up at Kmart around 9 a.m. hoping to grab one of the 32-inch TVs or a tablet, but both were long gone. So she took the opportunity to shop for learning games for her youngest boys, laying plans to return when the store re-opened at 8 p.m. with new door-buster specials.</p><p> </p><p>“They're supposed to have another big sale tonight, after they close at 4 and bring more specials out from the backroom,” Moffitt said. “I'm coming early this time, since everything was gone now.”</p><p> </p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>